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Sunday, February 1, 2015

You know those photos ... The ones you've uploaded from your camera to your computer, the ones that you're organizing and putting into folders... You know the ones.

And then there are those few, you aren't quite sure what folder to put in?

As you can imagine, I have hundreds of photos of London, I'm not going to such a fabulous city without a memory capturing device!

So as I am organizing, I find that, some are just ordinary. However, they were extra-ordinary to me at the time. Obviously they provoked some feeling within, or I wouldn't have snapped them. Looking at them now, it's because, they really are... Different. By different I mean, not home, not America. They are old, they are unique.

They are London.

A lot of London's buildings are covered in this...

Green.

Mold.

London smells different, especially in the old buildings, you can smell the earth and the old.

I love how I'm reminded of the history of this great city, just by looking. No text books needed.

I love that England is preserved, by every possible measure. Even if it's a wall. A lonely wall standing, among the technology and hustle passing it by.

I love walking passed old Royal mail boxes

And I'm ever so slightly obsessed with these red phone boxes, red is a bold and confident color. Perfect for London.

Though not everything is red, I love the ever dwindling police boxes that can still be seen lurking about on the streets of the city. (The damaged wall is from a bomb during WW2, also, take note... more aging green.)

The every day bus travel of London

And the homes... I love these Townhouses ...

Though I'm unsure what they call them in England

Some of the amazing flats...

Bikes. All of the bikes. Though not as bad as in Cambridge. There are bikes everywhere in London. I'd be scared to death to ride them, but you see people zooming in and out of traffic all of the time, biking right along side the cars and huge buses.

When in London, you will always pass tearing down... and building back up. Large cranes seem to have become iconic in this grand city!

In the last 5 years, I have seen many skyscrapers go up.. The Shard took months and months...

But they are all so beautiful when they're finished, I took this one just a few months ago.

How about that Cheese grater?

I love the side streets of London

I love that every single time I'm in London... I see street performers, I've seen fire eaten, I've seen magic tricks... I've seen these guys...

We must not forget about Quirky London. Quirky is as relevant as the history of this great city.

I mean... There are so many amazing street artists like Boa and Banksy, but there is hidden art too... Like mushrooms on a building. Who would have thought?

Turning a corner in London, often means seeing old passages... Often hundreds of years old.

But this one is near Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.

Did I mention it's really really OLD?

How about this... A part of the Original London Bridge, (NOT to be confused with Tower Bridge)

London.

It's old, It's new, It's eclectic, It's diverse, It's proper, It's colorful, It's grey, It's rainy, It's sunny. It holds many secrets, It has Boris, It has a Queen. It has a past and it definitely has a future!

But My most favorite part of London?

Just regular ole London.

Why am I going through past photos and reminiscing? It's only 4 months until I leave for England with my 2 children. I'm so excited. They are excited, though I know they have no idea what a culture shock they are visiting! Even with technology, things are quite different across the Atlantic.

The plan was to stay a year, Not just in England, but traveling, England, Ireland, Scotland, Europe. I have saved up and the plan is to WWOOF and House sit, visit friends and take at least a year long sabbatical. (Hopefully finding a job in that time). Now, well. I'm not sure how long we will stay. My son has been sick a lot, tests are being done to rule out several different illnesses. When a child gets sick it stops a mom in her tracks. My son doesn't have anything life threatening, but traveling, and leaving the private health insurance of America, is a scary thought when you're not sure what test results will bring.

So, I'm taking it one day at a time.

We plan to leave on June 9th, and stay at least the Summer.

If it's meant to be, we will stay longer.

There was a time when I was uneasy if I changed my mind about something, but now, I know... Life isn't a regulated book, and the more flexible I am, the less stress I endure.